Integration with Complex Numbers : A

Primer on Complex Analysis Aisling

Mccluskey
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/integration-with-complex-numbers-a-primer-on-compl
ex-analysis-aisling-mccluskey/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Undergraduate Analysis: A Working Textbook Aisling

Mccluskey

https://ebookmass.com/product/undergraduate-analysis-a-working-
textbook-aisling-mccluskey/

Data Wrangling on AWS: Clean and organize complex data

for analysis Shukla

https://ebookmass.com/product/data-wrangling-on-aws-clean-and-
organize-complex-data-for-analysis-shukla/

Operator Analysis: Hilbert Space Methods in Complex

Analysis Jim Agler

https://ebookmass.com/product/operator-analysis-hilbert-space-
methods-in-complex-analysis-jim-agler/

Visual Complex Analysis: 25th Anniversary Edition

Tristan Needham

https://ebookmass.com/product/visual-complex-analysis-25th-
anniversary-edition-tristan-needham-2/
Visual Complex Analysis: 25th Anniversary Edition
Tristan Needham

https://ebookmass.com/product/visual-complex-analysis-25th-
anniversary-edition-tristan-needham/

Genetic Analysis of Complex Disease 3rd Edition William

K. Scott

https://ebookmass.com/product/genetic-analysis-of-complex-
disease-3rd-edition-william-k-scott/

Complex Function Theory Takeo Fujiwara

https://ebookmass.com/product/complex-function-theory-takeo-
fujiwara/

Feng Fu Design and Analysis of Tall and Complex

Structures Elsevier 2018 Desconocido

https://ebookmass.com/product/feng-fu-design-and-analysis-of-
tall-and-complex-structures-elsevier-2018-desconocido/

The Structure of Complex Words Empson

https://ebookmass.com/product/the-structure-of-complex-words-
empson/
Integration with Complex Numbers
Integration
with Complex
Numbers
A primer on complex analysis

Aisling McCluskey
Personal Professor in Mathematics
National University of Ireland Galway

Brian McMaster
Honorary Senior Lecturer
Queen’s University Belfast

3
 3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
© Brian McMaster and Aisling McCluskey 2022
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics
rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021949554
ISBN 978–0–19–284607–5 (hbk)
ISBN 978–0–19–284643–3 (pbk.)
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192846075.001.0001
Printed and bound by
CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
Cover image: Fedor Selivanov/Shutterstock.com
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials
contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
 We dedicate this book to our families
with love and gratitude
and in calm acceptance of the fact that they are
never going to read more than a page or two of it.
AMcC, BMcM, October 2019
Preface

Complex analysis, more than almost any other undergraduate topic in mathemat-
ics, runs the full pure/applied gamut from the most subtle, difficult and ingenious
proofs to the most direct, hands-on, engineering-based applications. This creates
challenges for the instructor as much as for the very wide range of students whose
various programmes require a secure grasp of some of its aspects. Its techniques
are indispensable to many, but skill in the use of a mathematical tool is hazardous
and fallible without a sound understanding of why and when that tool is the right
one to pick up: this kind of understanding develops only by combining careful
exploration of ideas, analysis of proofs and practice across a range of exercises.
Part of the challenge and the joy of teaching complex analysis is that there is
no ‘typical profile’ for its customer base. Students from practically oriented disci-
plines in the physical sciences need to be able to evaluate complicated real integrals
efficiently and accurately and, in many cases, complex analysis provides the most
suitable techniques for enabling this; however, those techniques need to be under-
stood in sufficient depth that their application shall be secure and dependable. Stu-
dents whose primary interests lie within mathematics itself require experience in
developing coherent logical arguments and then communicating them in insight-
ful and convincing language. Between these two (relative) extremes lie various
smaller sub-cohorts. Indeed, virtually everyone who is enrolled on a degree path-
way within physical, engineering or mathematical sciences will encounter, during
their first and second years of undergraduate study, some of the key features of
complex analysis. Those whose degrees are explicitly in mathematics are likely to
need many of them.
The common factors in the requirements of these diverse groups include clarity
of exposition, an empathetic understanding of the difficulties that learners are
likely to meet, an ample range of examples with and without specimen solutions,
and a consistent determination to allow enough time for fundamental ideas to
bed down into a secure foundation for confident progression. Our text offers a
reader-friendly contemporary balance between idea, proof and practice, informed
by several decades of classroom experience and a seasoned understanding of
the backgrounds, motivation and competing time pressures of today’s student
cohorts. To achieve its aim of supporting and sustaining such cohorts through
those aspects of complex analysis that they encounter in first- and second-year
study, it also balances the competing needs to be self-contained, comprehensive,
accessible and engaging—all in sufficient but not in excessive measures. In partic-
ular, it begins where most students are likely to be, and invests the time and effort
that are required in order to deliver accessibility and introductory gradualness.
The principles which have guided us in constructing this text—as also in our
other OUP books—are:
viii PREFACE

• Allow as much time as it takes to establish confident facility with fundamental

ideas.
• Explicitly describe how solutions (that are new to the learner) are discovered,
as well as how those discoveries are refined into logically secure mathemati-
cal arguments; authorise intuitive attempts, informed guesses and roughwork
as steps towards the rigorously established conclusion.
• Illustrate each newly presented idea with worked examples, with exercises sup-
ported by partial solutions or hints, and with opportunities to learn by doing
alongside appropriate support and encouragement.
• Be upfront in acknowledging that some arguments are difficult, and that some
important topics can legitimately be omitted by substantial sections of the read-
ership unless and until their need arises.

Our aim here is to present a primer in complex analysis—no book of mod-

est dimensions and leisurely expository style can hope to offer any encyclopaedic
overview—in which we focus toward the use of contour integration as a tool for
evaluating seemingly difficult real integrals, building up from first principles the
broad and thorough base of theory and skills needed to support that goal. We have
felt free to include many informal sketch diagrams to give the reader a degree of
visual insight into ideas and procedures and to explore intuitively how to approach
a complicated problem, and thereby to encourage students to do likewise. The text
is richly furnished with examples and exercises: for it remains central both to our
teaching philosophy and to our classroom experience that it is by doing mathe-
matics that the learner acquires secure knowledge and confidence, not simply by
reading mathematics. There are around 120 exercises gathered up at the ends of
chapters (solutions available to instructors on application to the publishers) and a
broadly similar number of examples (mostly with full or sketch solutions) integrat-
ed into the text itself where they illustrate, motivate and encourage active learning.
These constitute the workspace in which the apprentice analyst trains up towards
craftsmanship, and where the effectiveness of a working textbook such as this can
best be experienced.
A note to the instructor

This book is designed as a primer in complex analysis. It sets out to engage stu-
dents who have no previous exposure to complex numbers and to bring them up
to a good standard of confident proficiency in one major application area: that
of evaluating challenging real definite integrals by associating them with complex
contour integrals for which routine algorithms are available. This is a technique
that we have found consistently to excite and satisfy quite diverse cohorts, and
which delivers insight into the power, the applicability and something of the unex-
pected beauty and elegance of the subject. In addition, the careful construction and
exploration of the background concepts that are needed to explain and justify this
process, together with an extensive spectrum of examples and exercises aimed at
developing competence and skill in their use, give the reader a broad grounding
in most of the elementary aspects of complex analysis. Depending on how rapid-
ly your classes are able to proceed, and how much background they have already
acquired in cognate areas, there is—in our experience—enough material here for
two first-year undergraduate semesters, or for one second-year semester.
Most of the exercises and examples that are embedded in the text come with
specimen solutions complete or outlined or hinted at. Those that are gathered
together at the end of most chapters constitute a suite of around 120 problems that
will assist you in creating assessments for your student groups: specimen solutions
for these are available to you upon application to the publishers, but not directly
to your students: please see the webpage www.oup.co.uk/companion/McCluskey
for how to gain access to them.
Prior knowledge that your students should ideally have before undertaking
study of this material includes elementary manipulative algebra up to the bino-
mial theorem and partial fractions, a clear intuitive understanding of the real
number system, the use of simple inequalities including modulus, set theory as a
language and proof techniques such as proof by induction and by contradiction,
familiarity with elementary calculus (especially differentiation and integration),
and basic real analysis such as convergence of sequences and series. However, we
devote Chapters 1, 3 and 5 to reviewing and revising the main topics in this list so
it is fully practicable to use the book for less extensively prepared cohorts. Here we
also introduce and develop, so far as is needed, two topics that are often missing
from students’ backgrounds—partial differentiation and improper integrals.
A note to the student reader

Whatever your reasons may be for wanting or needing to study integration involv-
ing complex numbers, it is likely that your intended goals include the following:

• An understanding of how so-called ‘imaginary’ numbers can help you in the

study of real-world mathematical problems;
• The ability to handle a range of apparently difficult real integration questions by
converting them into relatively straightforward complex integrals;
• Competence and confidence in handling complex integrations and in explaining
your arguments and conclusions to other people; and
• A solid understanding of the basic ideas and algorithms that underlie these
matters.

This book is designed to help you achieve this and more. In particular, it allows
time to explore and develop the initial ideas that need to be securely grasped before
embarking on more challenging issues, it incorporates informal discursive sections
to build up your intuitive feel for concepts that will guide and inform you in work-
ing with their proper mathematical formulations, and it steps aside from time to
time into roughwork paragraphs that provide a kind of apprenticeship experience
through which you can look ‘over the shoulder’ of a more experienced practitioner
and ‘under the bonnet’ of a complicated problem.
It will help you to get quickly into the interesting parts of this subject if you have
already acquired basic knowledge and technique in ‘real’ calculus and analysis,
especially concerning the ideas of sets, sequences and series and of the differentia-
tion and integration of real functions. However, we revise these topics in Chapters
1, 3 and 5, together with accounts of two matters that are sometimes missing
from the background of intending readers—partial differentiation and improp-
er integrals. Chapter 2 offers an introduction to complex numbers from the very
beginning, and Chapter 4 initiates the development of calculus in the complex set-
ting. If you happen to be thoroughly familiar with these matters already then you
can start the true business of the book from Chapter 6.
Our emphatic advice to you is to try every exercise or example as you meet it,
and then either to check your answer with a model solution if the book or your
lecture course makes one available or to see if your account convinces a tutor or a
fellow student. There are over 120 exercises compiled at the ends of our chapters,
and a comparable number of examples—mostly with full solutions—embedded
in the text itself. Try them all! Mathematics is not a subject that you can learn by
passively reading: it is a practical, performance-based discipline whose skills can
only be acquired and sharpened by doing. The more mathematics you do—even do
wrongly, provided that you find out the weak points in your work and strengthen
them for the next occasion—the deeper your understanding and your skill base
will become, and the greater the enjoyment you will derive from doing more.
Contents

1 Background part A 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Revision 1: sets 2
1.3 Revision 2: sequences 4
1.4 Revision 3: series 6

2 What are complex numbers? 11

2.1 How do we handle them? 14
2.2 Navigating around the complex plane 20
2.3 Sequences and series of complex numbers 29
2.4 Powers and roots: de Moivre’s theorem 33
2.5 Exercises 37

3 Background part B 41
3.1 Real functions 41
3.2 Limits of real functions 44
3.3 Continuity of real functions 49
3.4 Differentiation of real functions 52
3.5 A very brief look at partial differentiation 57
3.6 Exercises 61

4 Complex functions 63
4.1 Introduction 63
4.2 Limits, continuity, differentiation (again) 64
4.3 Cauchy–Riemann 73
4.4 Surprises! 78
4.5 Exercises 81

5 Background part C 85
5.1 Introduction 85
5.2 Integration by inspection 87
5.3 Integration by parts 88
5.4 Integration by substitution, or change of variable 90
5.5 A look at improper integrals 92
5.6 Cauchy principal values—a (slightly) more advanced topic 96
5.7 Exercises 105

6 Paths in the complex plane 109

6.1 Introduction 109
6.2 Functions from ℝ to ℂ 111
xii CONTENTS

6.3 Paths and contours 114

6.4 Combining paths 120
6.5 Connected sets and domains 122
6.6 Integrating along a contour 125
6.7 Exercises 135

7 Cauchy’s theorem(s) 139

7.1 Introduction 139
7.2 Baby Cauchy 139
7.3 The triangular contour case 142
7.4 The star domain case 145
7.5 The general case 150
7.6 Cauchy’s integral formula 153
7.7 Exercises 157

8 Taylor’s theorem 161

8.1 Introduction 161
8.2 Taylor series 163
8.3 Examples 166
8.4 Zeros 169
8.5 Exercises 174

9 Residues 179
9.1 Laurent’s theorem 179
9.2 The residue theorem 190
9.3 Residue calculation tools 193
9.4 Exercises 195

10 Reality from complexity 199

10.1 Integrating ‘around the unit circle’ 199
10.2 Integrating ‘around an infinite semicircle’ 211
10.3 Spiking it with trig 223
10.4 Some special case techniques 228
10.5 The Gaussian integral—complex analysis showing off 246
10.6 Exercises 249

11 The repair shop for broken promises 253

11.1 The field axioms 253
11.2 L’Hôpital’s rule for complex functions 254
11.3 Swopping summation and integration 255
11.4 Smoothness: analytical and geometrical 264

Suggestions for further or supplementary reading 267

Index 269
 .................................................................................

1 Background part A
set, sequence, series
.................................................................................

1.1 Introduction
Anyone who wishes to work with aspects of calculus or analysis—limits, continu-
ity, series, differentiation, integration—in the context of complex numbers will be
well advised to have first studied the corresponding ideas in the context of real
numbers. This is because most of us feel the real number system to be much closer
to everyday experience than its complex cousin, therefore leaving us freer to focus
on acquiring skill in and familiarity with these rather challenging notions without
needing to worry about the nature, or even the existence, of the numbers under-
lying what we are doing. All the same, it is important to realise that only quite a
limited grasp of real calculus/analysis is necessary before beginning to diversify
into studying its complex clone: for the basic ideas that we need in the two areas
are virtually identical, and the same can be said about many of the results that are
built upon them.
What we seek to do in Chapters 1, 3 and 5 of the present text is to summarise
as succinctly as possible the pieces of real calculus and real analysis that we should
like the reader to have met before starting to work on the main material. These
background chapters do not set out to be anything like complete accounts of the
topics that headline them, and their intended purpose varies from one learner to
another. Depending on the experience, the time constraints and the motivation of
individual readers, they are designed

1. either briefly to remind the reader who has already achieved a good grasp of
basic real analysis about the particular concepts, results and notations that we
shall directly use in later chapters,
2. or to encourage the less-well-versed reader to try to make the time to acquire
an understanding and a modest degree of skill in the concepts, results and nota-
tions listed (possibly by referring to one of the texts named under ‘Suggestions
for Further Reading’),
3. or, at absolute minimum, to list—as clearly as time and space permit us—the
ideas of real analysis upon which this account of the development of complex
analysis is going to be built.

Integration with Complex Numbers. McCluskey and McMaster, Oxford University Press.
© Brian McMaster and Aisling McCluskey (2022). DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780192846075.003.0001
2 1 BACKGROUND PART A

1.2 Revision 1: sets

We shall begin with a very quick review of the language and notation of set theory
insofar as they abbreviate and streamline what we need to say later concerning, for
instance, collections of complex numbers.

1.2.1 Definitions A set is any well-defined collection of distinct objects. ‘Well-

defined’ in this context means that for any set A and any relevant object a it must be
unambiguously decidable whether a is or is not one of the objects that belong to A.
‘Distinct’ means that if a is an object that belongs to a set A and b is an object that
belongs to A, then it must be unambiguously decidable whether a = b or a ̸= b.
The notation
a∈A
says that A is a set and that a is one of the objects that belong to it (that is, that a is
an element of the set A). The notation
a∉A
says that a is not one of the elements of the set A. The special symbols ℕ, ℤ, ℚ, ℝ
and ℂ always denote the set of positive integers, the set of all integers (whole
numbers positive, negative or zero), the set of rationals (the numbers that can
be expressed exactly as one integer divided by another), the familiar set of real
numbers, and the set of complex numbers (which, naturally, we shall discuss in
some detail later on). So, for instance, the shorthand

x ∈ ℂ, x ∉ ℝ

is simply a quick way to write that x is a complex number but that it is not a real
number.
Finite sets can be simply and conveniently represented by enclosing a list
of their elements within curly brackets; for instance, {2, 5, 7, 11} is the set of
prime divisors of 3080. Similar notations can with caution be employed for some
infinite sets; no confusion is likely to arise if we write {1, 2, 3, 4, . . .} for ℕ or
{. . . − 2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .} for ℤ. On the other hand, more seriously infinite sets
such as ℝ cannot be written in this way.

1.2.2 Definitions If A and B are sets such that every element of A is also an
element of B then we call A a subset of B and write A ⊆ B (or, equivalently, B ⊇ A).
We note the extreme cases: A ⊆ A is always true, and so is ∅ ⊆ A where ∅ denotes
the ‘empty set’, that is, the set that has no elements at all. If P(x) is any meaningful
statement about the typical element x of a set A, then the symbols

{x ∈ A : P(x)} or {x ∈ A | P(x)} or {x : x ∈ A, P(x)} or {x | x ∈ A, P(x)}

all denote the subset of A that comprises exactly those elements x of A for which
P(x) is a true statement. For instance, {x ∈ ℝ : x ∉ ℤ} is the set of all real numbers
 1.2 REVISION 1: SETS 3

that are not integers, {x ∈ ℝ : −1 < x < 2} is the ‘open interval’ of all real
numbers that lie strictly between −1 and 2, often written more briefly as (−1, 2),
and {z ∈ ℂ | z8 = 1} consists of all the complex eighth roots of unity (another
matter to be discussed later). Of course, {x ∈ A : x ̸= x} is just ∅.

1.2.3 Definitions For any sets A and B we define their union A ∪ B, their inter-
section A ∩ B and their set difference A \ B as follows:

A ∪ B = {x : x ∈ A or x ∈ B (or both)},

A ∩ B = {x : x ∈ A and x ∈ B},

A \ B = {x : x ∈ A but x ∉ B}.

In the case where B ⊆ A, the set difference A \ B is usually called the relative
complement of B in A or, more briefly, the complement of B if the context makes it
obvious which background set A is being considered.
The ideas of union and intersection extend routinely to deal with more than two
sets—indeed, we can define the union of any family of sets (even an infinite family)
to comprise all the objects that are elements of at least one set in the family, and
the intersection of any family of sets to comprise all objects that belong to every
set in the family.
There are a large number of ‘rules’ that facilitate combining sets via unions,
intersections and complements in an almost mechanical way, but we are unlikely
to need them very much (and will draw attention on an ad hoc basis to any that do
turn out to be useful to us).

1.2.4 Note A non-empty subset of ℝ that has no breaks in it is called an interval.

Intervals that ‘stretch off to infinity’ or ‘to minus infinity’ are called unbounded, and
those that do not are called bounded. The point or points (if there are any) that lie
on the borderline of an interval are called its endpoints, and they themselves may
or may not belong to the interval as elements. These interval subsets of ℝ turn up
so often that we should make the above rather informal descriptions fully precise,
and also take note of the standard symbols for intervals of the various types (here,
a and b are real numbers and denote the endpoints):

1. (a, b) = {x ∈ ℝ : a < x < b}

2. [a, b] = {x ∈ ℝ : a ≤ x ≤ b}
3. [a, b) = {x ∈ ℝ : a ≤ x < b}
4. (a, b] = {x ∈ ℝ : a < x ≤ b}
5. (a, ∞) = {x ∈ ℝ : a < x}
6. [a, ∞) = {x ∈ ℝ : a ≤ x}
7. (−∞, b) = {x ∈ ℝ : x < b}
4 1 BACKGROUND PART A

8. (−∞, b] = {x ∈ ℝ : x ≤ b}
9. (−∞, ∞) = ℝ
10. [a, a] = {x ∈ ℝ : a ≤ x ≤ a} = {a}

Intervals such as 1, 2, 3 and 4 (and, technically, 10) are the bounded intervals,
whereas the others are unbounded. Numbers 1, 5, 7 and 9 are open intervals and
numbers 2, 6, 8, 9 (and, technically, 10) are closed intervals. Note that item 10 is
often considered not to be an interval at all, whereas some texts classify it as a
degenerate interval.

1.3 Revision 2: sequences

1.3.1 Definitions A sequence is an unending succession of numbers in a partic-
ular order (a first, a second, a third…). We call it an integer sequence if all its terms
are integers, a real sequence if all its terms are real numbers, and so on. Standard
ways of writing down a sequence include

(a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 , . . .)

and
(an )n ∈ ℕ
and even just
(an ).
In order fully to describe a particular sequence, we need to include instructions
on how to determine the typical term1 an , and that usually entails either an
explicit formula for an or a recursive procedure for creating it from earlier
terms in the sequence. A classic example of the latter is the Fibonacci sequence
(1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, . . .) in which the recursive pattern is that an+2 = an+1 + an
(that is, each term from the third one onwards is defined by adding the two that
immediately precede it); an explicit formula for the nth Fibonacci number as a
function of n can be found, but it is far from obvious at first sight.
Some sequences, but by no means all of them, settle towards an ‘equilibrium
state’ or ‘limiting value’ as we scan further and further along the list of their terms.

1 Unless, of course, the pattern of the first few terms is so obvious that nothing further is required:
for instance, in the case of the sequence
( )
1 1 1 1
1, , , , , . . .
2 4 8 16
1
it is surely unnecessary to say explicitly that the nth term is .
2n−1
 1.3 REVISION 2: SEQUENCES 5

When this does occur, it is the most important thing to know about that particular
sequence. Here follows the precise definition: recall that the modulus |x| of a real
number x is the physical size of x, disregarding whether it is positive or negative,
that is,
(
x if x ≥ 0,
|x| =
−x if x < 0.

1.3.2 Definitions A sequence (an )n ∈ ℕ is said to converge or to be convergent to

a limit L (as n → ∞) if, for each ε > 0, there is a positive integer nε such that

n ≥ nε ⇒ |an − L| < ε.

Instead of an → L as n → ∞, the alternative notation L = limn→∞ an is often

used. A sequence that is not convergent (that is, does not possess a limit) is said to
diverge or to be divergent.
This is not an easy definition to assimilate; we shall use it as little as possible in
the text, but we strongly recommend that you make an effort (again we flag up the
additional reading resources listed at the end of the book) to build up some degree
of confidence in what it means and in how to use it. It may be helpful to think of
ε as the tolerance of error that can be permitted in some envisaged application, so
that the definition of convergence to L effectively says:

no matter how small the tolerance ε has been set, we can make an a good
approximation to L, that is, one whose error or inaccuracy |an − L| is smaller
than that allowed tolerance ε, just by going far enough along the sequence,
that is, by making sure that the label n on the term an is at least some threshold
value nε (which, of course, probably depends on how small the tolerance ε is
required to be).

Despite the somewhat intimidating appearance of the definition of sequence

limit, many of the results that follow from it look extremely natural (and, indeed,
have quite straightforward proofs). For example, if a sequence (cn ) has been creat-
ed by adding together two convergent sequences (an ) and (bn ) (that is, cn = an +bn
for every n), then the fact that (cn ) also converges, and that its limit is just the sum
of the two limits of its summands:

lim(an + bn ) = lim an + lim bn (as n → ∞ in each case)

looks like nothing more than common sense. Likewise, the limits of differences,
products, quotients and so on of convergent sequences turn out to be exactly what
common sense expects them to be (provided always that no attempt is made to
divide by zero, of course).
6 1 BACKGROUND PART A

1.3.3 Definition A subsequence of a given sequence

(an ) = (a1 , a2 , a3 , a4 , . . .)

is any sequence that is formed by selecting an unending list of some of its elements
in their original order

(an1 , an2 , an3 , an4 , . . .)

(where n1 < n2 < n3 < n4 < . . . to ensure that the order of the selected terms is
as it was in the parent sequence). The (admittedly rather cumbersome) standard
notation for such a subsequence is

(ank )k∈ℕ .

We need to flag up three less obvious but important results.

1.3.4 Theorem

• Every convergent sequence is bounded (that is, we can find some positive con-
stant K so that every term of the sequence lies between K and −K).
• If a sequence converges to a certain limit, then every one of its subsequences also
converges (and to that same limit).
• Every bounded real sequence possesses a convergent subsequence. (Note that
this result is known as the Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem.)

(Incidentally, the first and second parts of this portmanteau theorem give us the
two standard ways of trying to show that a given sequence is divergent: we should
either try to prove that it is not bounded, or else seek two subsequences of it that
possess different limits. If we succeed in either of those enterprises, the sequence
cannot have been convergent.)

1.4 Revision 3: series

Informally, a series is the problem we run into once we aspire to add all the terms
of an (infinite) sequence. Since addition simply doesn’t work like that (for it only
makes sense to add a finite list of numbers) this is not good enough to be a proper
definition, but it does virtually tell us how to tighten the logic in a way that does
make good sense but still describes the original intention. To try to add ‘all’ the
terms in an unending sequence, we should instead add the first n of them, get (or
estimate) that nth partial sum, and look for a limit of this quantity as n becomes
larger and larger.
 1.4 REVISION 3: SERIES 7

1.4.1 Definition For any given real sequence (ak )k∈ℕ let (sn )n∈ℕ be the other
sequence defined by s1 = a1 , s2 = a1 + a2 , s3 = a1 + a2 + a3 and, in general,

X
n
sn = ak = a1 + a2 + a3 + . . . + an .
k=1

P∞
The series 1 ak is the pair of sequences (ak ) and (sn ). It is said to be a convergent
series if (sn ) is convergent (and then the limit of (sn ) is called the sum or, more
formally, the sum to infinity of the series); if (sn ) has no limit, the series is said to
be divergent. The two constituent sequences (ak ) and (sn ) are called the sequence
of terms and the sequence of partial sums of the series.
Common experience is that

1. it can be very difficult to determine the sum of a series, but

2. usually that does not matter very much, since (most of the time) it is more
important to know whether a series does or does not converge than to evaluate
any actual sum,
3. and in consequence we will benefit by gathering together a number of ‘conver-
gence tests’ that focus simply on determining whether a series does converge or
not.
4. In this regard, series whose terms are all non-negative are easier to work with:
because such a series converges if and only if its sequence of partial sums is
bounded above (that is, if and only if we can find some constant that is bigger
than every partial sum).

1.4.2 Comparison tests

P∞ P∞
Provided that all the terms of two series 1 ak and 1 bk are non-negative:
P∞
1. If ak ≤ bk for every k, and the ‘bigger’ series 1 bk converges, then also the
‘smaller’ series must converge.
2. To say the same thing in slightly different language, if ak ≤ bk for every k and the
P∞
‘smaller’ series 1 ak diverges, then also the ‘bigger’ series must diverge.
3. If we can find a particular positive integer n0 such that ak ≤ bk for every k ≥ n0
P∞
then, again, if the ‘bigger’ series 1 bk converges, then also the ‘smaller’ series
P∞
must converge, and if the ‘smaller’ series 1 ak diverges, then also the ‘bigger’
series must diverge.
4. If we can find a particular positive real number C such that ak ≤ Cbk for every k
P∞
then, once again, if the ‘bigger’ series 1 bk converges, then also the ‘smaller’
P∞
series must converge, and if the ‘smaller’ series 1 ak diverges, then also the
‘bigger’ series must diverge.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
fell around him. Suddenly he dropped, and hearts sank, thinking his
brief career ended; but he had only tripped over some obstacle. Often
he stumbled, sometimes he fell prostrate, but was quickly up again,
and finally disappeared limping, over the summit, and the Fifty-fifth
saw him no more for several months. As the boy sped away the last
time, the colonel shouted to him: “Bring calibre fifty-four.” General
Sherman’s letter to the War Department will tell the rest of the story.

Headquarters Fifteenth Army Corps,

Camp on Big Black, Aug. 8th, 1863.

Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War,

Sir:

I take the liberty of asking through you that something be done for a young lad
named Orion P. Howe, of Waukegan, Illinois, who belongs to the 55th Illinois, but
is at present from home, wounded. I think he is too young for West Point, but
would be the very thing for a midshipman.
When the assault at Vicksburg was at its height, on the 19th of May, and I was
in front near the road which formed my line of attack, this young man came up to
me wounded and bleeding, with a good, healthy boy’s cry: “General Sherman,
send some cartridges to Colonel Malmborg, the men are all out.” “What is the
matter, my boy?” “They shot me in the leg, sir, but I can go to the hospital. Send
the cartridges right away.” Even where we stood the shot fell thick, and I told him
to go to the rear at once, I would attend to the cartridges, and off he limped. Just
before he disappeared on the hill, he turned and called to me as loud as he could:
“Calibre 54.”
I have not seen the boy since, and his colonel gave me his address as above, and
says he is a bright, intelligent boy, with a fair preliminary education. What
arrested my attention there, was, and what renews my memory now, is, that one
so young, carrying a musket-ball wound through his leg, should have found his
way to me on that fatal spot, and delivered his message, not forgetting the very
important part even of the calibre of the musket, 54, which you know is an
unusual one. I’ll warrant the boy has in him the elements of a man, and I
commend him to the government as one worthy the fostering care of some of its
national institutions.
I am, with respect, your obedient servant,

W. T. Sherman,
Major-General Commanding.

BE PATRIOTIC.
 It may be, my boy, that you will never be able to guide a regiment
of soldiers as did Nathan Beman, or carry cartridges as did young
Howe, but that is no reason why you should not be just as patriotic.
That boy who is law abiding, who opposes everything that tends to
undermine the national fabric, who decries Sabbath desecration, vile
language, bad literature, and all vices, is a patriot in the true sense of
the word, and can be relied upon in times of peace as well as war to
do his best for the country.
Be patriotic. Cultivate the spirit of admiration toward the national
flag. Dowered with priceless traditions its stars and stripes speak of
the sufferings of the past, the prosperity of the present, and the
glories of the future which shall attend the onward march of this
great Republic. It is the hallowed emblem of the world’s greatest
nation, and of its most resplendent civilization. Of Sherman it was
said that he never failed to salute the flag by taking off his hat in its
presence. That flag is the emblem of all we are and all we expect to
be.
“It floats that all the rights of men may every people bless
And God’s own kingdom walk the world in peace and righteousness.”

Be patriotic. Study the questions that have a bearing upon the

well-being of the people. In the past hundred years, more than
twenty-three million foreigners have settled in this land. Many are
God-fearing men, but many more are entirely out of harmony with
our principles and institutions. Truly America is
“The mother with the ever open door,
The feet of many nations on her floor,
And room for all the world about her knees.”

Of the seventy million inhabitants twenty-five per cent. are yet in

gross ignorance, thirteen per cent. cannot read the ballots they cast,
and thousands of such are annually coming to our shores, imbued
with the notions, failings and vices of their native lands. True
patriotism desires and labors not only for a free people, but an
educated one.
To be patriotic requires candor. We must be fair in our judgment
of others who may differ from us concerning methods of dealing with
some vital questions which are always before the nation. We do not
always see and understand alike, but we must strive to promote and
preserve the integrity of the nation. In the opening hours of the
French Revolution Mirabeau roused the rabble of Paris, which
whirled the social order into chaos, provoking Madame Roland’s
dying words, “Oh, liberty, what crimes are done in thy name!” We
have Mirabeaus here, but as educated lovers of our country, we must
antagonize wrong, uphold right, and defend the principles of the
Declaration of Independence.
To be patriotic in the true sense is to permeate every question with
Christianity. It was religious liberty that became the mother of
political liberty in England. De Toqueville said, “America’s liberty
considers Christianity the guardian angel of her struggle and victory,
the cradle of her life, the Divine source of her right.” “God and my
country” is the true patriot’s cry. In the words of the almost forgotten
Oliver Ellsworth to the Grand Jury of Savannah in 1779, “Let us rear
an empire sacred to the rights of men; and commend a government
of reason to the nations of the earth.”
 PART III
Relation to God
 CHAPTER XXI
Be a Christian

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER XXI

By Samuel Fallows
“Early let me seek Thy favor;
Early let me do Thy will;
Blessed Lord, and only Savior,
With Thy love my bosom fill;
Blessed Jesus,
Thou hast loved me, love me still.”

What is it to be a Christian? It is to be born again. What is it to be

born again? The New Testament gives the answer. He that “believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God is born of Him.” (1 John 5:1). He “that
loveth is born of God.” (1 John 4:7). He “that doeth righteousness is
born of Him.” (1 John 2:29).
Faith, love righteousness and trust in Christ, love for Christ, right
deeds through this faith and love in every sphere of life, deeds of
justice, of mercy, of goodness, of purity, of charity for the welfare of
his fellowmen,—these make a Christian.
Be such a Christian, my boy. Be a trusting, brave, noble, strong,
gentle, pure, loving and self-sacrificing follower of Jesus Christ.
 CHAPTER XXI
Be a Christian

Having fairly embarked on the voyage which ceases not till the port
of eternity is reached, it is an exhibition of good seamanship to take
one’s bearings. By the log is estimated the progress of the vessel; by
the compass, the direction the ship is pursuing, and by the altitude of
the stars the latitude in which it is. In like manner the Moral
chapters indicate the progress boys should make; the Social, the
course they should take, and the Religious, the latitude in which they
should live. Of these the religious are the most essential, for a boy
cannot be truly religious without being moral and social.
When the Rebellion began a young man went to his mother and
said: “Mother, may I volunteer? I argue the matter in four plain
ways. First, my country needs me. Second, she calls me. Third, I am
able to go. Fourth, I am willing. This makes the duty very clear to me,
unless you interpose a veto, and I think you are too good a patriot to
do that.” She gave her consent, and before he departed, she said:
“You know, my son, how much I have wished to see you a Christian.
Now I want you to look at the claims of Jesus exactly as you have
looked at those of your country, simply and honestly, and see if those
same four plain propositions will not lead you into the service of
heaven.” “I’ll think of it, mother,” was his answer, and they parted.
He did not forget his promise. On his first Sabbath in camp he
resolutely set himself to the fulfilment of his mother’s request.
Remembering how he had argued duty to his country, he brought
before his mind in the same manner the subject of the divine claims
upon his heart and life. “Does Jesus want me? Does He call me? Am I
able to serve Him? Am I willing?” With an open Bible, the first three
questions were quickly answered. At the last one he hesitated, but
duty seemed so clear that he dared not falter, and falling on his knees
he gave himself to Christ. The next letter home announced him to be
a Christian soldier.

A CHRISTIAN.
 Many names and titles are significant, but none means so much or
has so much honor attached to it as the word “Christian.” Young
said, “A Christian is the highest style of man.” A Christian is a Christ-
lover and a Christ-worshipper, because he sees God in Christ, and in
the God-man he sees the world’s Redeemer and his own personal
Saviour. He lives in the world, but is not of the world. While in the
world he blesses it by living a godly, upright life. His life work and
influence are a benediction to those among whom he moves. His
purpose is “not to make a living,” as Governor Russell, of
Massachusetts, used to say, “but to make a life.” He is far more
concerned about this than about dying. Death is the least of his
concerns. To live is Christ, and because of this, his life is proof of his
profession.

HOW TO BE A CHRISTIAN.

To become a Christian is not a hard matter, though to live the life

of one is a battle with the world, the flesh and Satan. It is because of
the simple rules laid down whereby one can become a Christian that
many of mature life neglect it. Were it culture, polish, or liberality,
many more would be enrolled as Christians, but because a change of
heart, affections or living is demanded, many cling to their ordinary
life, but at the last deplore it, earnestly pleading for forgiveness and
acceptance by Christ.
Three propositions are given in the New Testament, which,
accepted, will lead any boy to know what it is to be a Christian. First,
repentance: “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching ... repent ye.” (Mark
1:14, 15). Repentance means such sorrow for past conduct as leads to
amendment of life. Second, confession of sin. “If we say we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8, 9). Third, faith in Christ to
save. Paul said to the jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31).
A father and son were once following a perilous path among the
Alps. In passing along they gathered some beautiful flowers, but the
boy, seeing a lovely one waving in the breeze, thoughtlessly hurried
to secure it. His foot slipped and he rolled down an incline until he
was stopped by some tall bushes. With all his strength he seized hold
of the shrubbery and commenced to call for help. The brush grew on
the brink of a yawning abyss. It was impossible for the father to
reach his son with his hands, but he carried a staff on one end of
which was an iron hook. The boy had around him a leathern belt, so
the father reached down and fastened the hook in his girdle. The lad,
however, could not be drawn up without releasing his hold on the
bushes. He could not see his father, nor did he in his fright even feel
that his father held him up; he only heard his voice: “Let go of the
bushes, my son, and I will save you.” To the boy it seemed as though
he would thus hurry himself to destruction, but, relying on his
father’s word, he forsook his hold and was drawn in safety to his
father’s side.
That boy was saved through faith. His firm belief in his father’s
word saved him. Had he persisted in holding on to the bushes
through doubt or hesitation it would have meant his death. To be
saved, every boy must forsake his hold on sin, yield himself to
Christ’s power and mercy, and then will he find to his joy, that Christ
saves to the uttermost. (Heb. 7:25).

THE TIME TO BE A CHRISTIAN.

Solomon said there is “a time to every purpose under the heaven,”

(Eccl. 3:1) and no purpose is greater and no time more important
than when a boy becomes a Christian. Youth is the most important
period of one’s life. It is the time when the faculties are most
susceptible, heart tender and will pliable; the time when tastes and
biases are created, habits acquired and character formed for future
weal or woe. No other period affords greater possibilities of long
usefulness as well as opportunities for peculiar usefulness.
A staff-officer, riding over the field of battle during the Civil War,
was attracted by a body lying under a tree, handsomely dressed, with
a fancy sword. He removed the covering and looked into the sweetest
and handsomest face he had ever seen. It was that of a boy, a
temporary aide to some officer. In his pocket was found a Testament
in which was written “James Simmons, N. Y. My son, ‘Remember
now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.’” (Eccl. 12:1).
That is it, youth. The best and most profitable time for piety.
Jeremiah and John the Baptist loved and worshipped God in their
youth. Josiah knew the Lord at eight years of age. Timothy knew the
Scriptures and loved Christ from a child. Polycarp accepted Christ at
nine, Jonathan Edwards at seven, Isaac Watts at nine, Adam Clarke
at four, William Penn at nine, Matthew Henry at eleven, Robert Hall
at twelve, Augustus Toplady at sixteen, while Joseph Griggs not only
became a Christian very young but wrote the hymn—
“Jesus! and shall it ever be
A mortal man ashamed of Thee!”

when but ten years of age.

Some years ago the “Golden Rule” sent letters of inquiry to
prominent men of the land asking several questions, one of which
was: “At what age did you become a Christian?” It was found on
receiving the answers that out of one hundred and forty-nine less
than one in ten became Christians later than twenty years of age;
twenty-nine were so young that they did not remember; at least
sixty-three professed Christ before they were eighteen. Nine-tenths
of all saved persons are saved before twenty. “Why this?” you ask.
Physiologists say “the cells of the brain change as we grow old until
finally there are ruts in them.” Carlyle explains it thus: “In younger
years the whole mind is, as it were, fluid, and capable of forming
itself into any shape that the owner of the mind pleases. The mind is
in fluid state, but it hardens up gradually to the consistency of rock
or iron, and you cannot alter the habits of the old man, for as he
began he will go on to the last.” To procrastinate in youth is to
jeopardize one’s soul in age.

“REMEMBER.”

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,” (Eccl. 12:1)
is the most important exhortation of the Old Testament. Remember
is just the opposite of forget, and the one to remember is the most
exalted and important in the universe, “thy Creator.” Remember His
Word and believe it, for the promise is: “He that heareth My Word
and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life.” (John
5:24). Remember His work and accept it, for He was made to “sin for
us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him.” (2 Cor. 5:21). Remember His love and return it, for
“herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us,” (1 John
4:10) and “gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16).
Remember this Creator now. Only one time is mentioned in the
Scriptures at which eternal life is promised. Cowley sang of an
“everlasting now,” but there is no such time, and no wise boy desires
that there shall be. There is an eternity of the past, an eternity of the
future, but “now” is limited to now. “Behold, now is the accepted
time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2). And this—
“Opportunity lost, however deplored
Is eternity gone and is never restored.”

After the overthrow of the French empire by the Germans, Prince

Napoleon joined the English army, and went among the savage tribes
of South Africa. One day while with a squad of soldiers outside the
camp, he was warned by one of the company, who said: “We had
better return. If we don’t hasten we may fall into the hands of the
enemy.” “Oh,” said the Prince, “let us stay here ten minutes and
drink our coffee.” Before the ten minutes had passed a company of
Zulus came upon them and in the skirmish the Prince lost his life.
His mother, when informed of the facts, said, “That was his great
mistake from boyhood. He never wanted to go to bed at night in
time, nor to arise in the morning. He was ever pleading for ten
minutes more. On this account I sometimes called him ‘Mr. Ten
Minutes.’”
The habit of delay was to him what it is to thousands who pass the
tenth, fifteenth and twentieth milestone without accepting Christ, his
ruination. Such delay weakens the force of the will, unfits for action
when opportunity presents, robs the present and blasts the future.

REASONS FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN IN YOUTH.

 “If youth,” as Ruskin said, “is essentially one of formation,
edification, instruction,” then is it the proper time to be a Christian,
for “There’s never an hour of it but is trembling with destinies, not a
moment of which, once past, the appointed work can ever be done
again, or the neglected blow struck on cold iron.”
A boy should be a Christian for the sake of safety. As one grows
away from boyhood, he grows away from the opportunities for
salvation. He is liable to drift. There is a point on Niagara River
called “Past Redemption Point,” where the current is too strong for
human power to battle against. Manhood and age have no special
promise like “they that seek Me early shall find Me.” (Prov. 8:17).
A boy should be a Christian that he may be happy. To properly
remember God, to lose oneself in adoration of Him, is to be like Him,
to be “holy as He is holy,” (1 Pet. 1:15, 16) consequently it is to be
happy as He is happy. Holiness and happiness are inseparable. True
love and true joy come together.
A boy should be a Christian to be useful. God’s promise to
Abraham was: “I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a blessing.” (Gen.
12:2). When Joseph dwelt in Potiphar’s house, we read: “The Lord
blessed the Egyptian’s house, for Joseph’s sake.” (Gen. 39:5). And
the boy who loves Christ will be a rich blessing in many ways to
others.
A boy should be a Christian because it is right. Right is better than
might, and worth more than gold. “In the matter of right,” said
Martin Luther, “I will take my stand, I yield to none.” “I’d rather be
right than President,” said Henry Clay. The only proper life to live is
the Christian life. It is sweet on earth, which makes heaven the
sweeter.
My boy, be a Christian. “All men at the head of great movements,”
said Mr. Gladstone, “are Christian men. During the many years I was
cabinet officer, I was brought into association with sixty master
minds, and all but five were Christians.” To be a Christian is the most
satisfactory, honorable, influential course to pursue. It gives
unspeakable joy in life, peace in death, and glory hereafter.
Remember then—
God wants the boys—all kinds of boys—
To love Him, serve Him, do His will;
He wants those boys that make much noise,
And those who keep so very still.

God sent His Son to die for all,

And on the cross His blood was shed.
No boy need spurn His gracious call
Or of the “Bread of Life” be fed.

Then why not to this Christ now flee

And on His mercy cast thyself?
O hear His words: “Come unto Me,”
And answering back, “I yield myself.”
 CHAPTER XXII
Be Prayerful

INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER XXII

By A. C. Lorimer, D. D.
When I was a youth, I loved to climb Arthur’s Seat early in the
morning, for the purpose of breathing the air borne to our inland
home from out the mighty seas; and so it is well for every lad each
day to seek the summit of highest faith, that he may hold
communion with God; that he may inhale something of the
atmosphere of eternal worlds.
It is said that Daniel opened his window when he prayed, toward
Jerusalem. It was doubtless that he might think of the hallowed city.
Better far, however, to open the windows of the soul toward heaven,
not merely that we may think of the hereafter, but that the invisible,
at the present moment, may stream into our being.
Prayer is the soul’s voice. It is the aspiration of the highest part of
man. It is the sublime confidence, that, though foreign, still it is
within the range of possibility to hold communion with the Creator
of us all. Every time we bend the knee before the Throne of Grace, we
declare our belief in our own God-likeness and in our indestructible
affinity for the divine. Therefore, pray, my boy, and keep on praying;
for it is the true Jacob’s ladder that will lead you, round by round, up
to the Everlasting Throne.
 CHAPTER XXII
Be Prayerful

A noble characteristic of any boy is love for prayer. Too many

consider common amusements more important than going to some
chamber or church to commune with the loving Saviour. They are
not. The former bring transient happiness and with it a weary frame,
the latter an unexplained peace, rest of body and soul. The former
gratifies for a time without changing selfish desires or promoting
lofty aspirations, the latter moulds into the image of the Christ-
character.
Prayer is not simply a petition or mere forms of a vain repetition.
It is a turning of the life toward God, an opening of the soul toward
heaven, a reaching out of one’s being with desire to appropriate the
Divine. It was a shoemaker’s shop, with bench, half-worn shoes and
not a few boxes. The proprietor was an old friend of the writer, so
deaf that few could converse with him. Visiting the village in which
he lived, I called upon him. After a chat by means of the lips, signs
and paper, he asked if I would like to hear his son play the harp.
Assenting, he called the lad, who brought a beautiful instrument.
Placing his feet on the pedals, he ran his fingers over the wires and
melodious music resounded. When it stopped, I turned to the old
man, and asked by signs: “Did you hear it?” Shaking his head, he
answered, “Not a note.” Then stepping to the stove, he picked up a
long black poker, and putting one end between his teeth and the
other on the harp, he motioned the boy to play. The lad’s fingers
moved as if by magic. The room was flooded with music and passing
pedestrians stopped to listen. Suddenly the musician stopped. I
propounded the same question: “Did you hear anything?” He
laughed and answered: “All that you heard, I heard.” How? That
dirty poker was changed into a conductor of sound. It brought harp
and listener in contact with each other. In like manner prayer brings
God and petitioner into near relation. What one pleads, the other
hears, and answering, God makes music in the soul.

GREAT MEN GREAT IN PRAYING.

 Many great men have been great in praying. Men of the Bible, men
of science, history and influence have been firm believers in it.
Charles Simeon and Joseph Alleine spent from four to eight o’clock
in the morning waiting upon God. Wesley gave two hours a day,
Luther the first three hours. Samuel Rutherford was up at three in
the morning to give God praise. Archbishop Leighton was so much
alone with God that he seemed to be in a perpetual meditation.
Bishop Ken was so much alone with God, that his soul was said to be
God-enamored. David Brainerd prayed hour after hour. John
Fletcher spent whole nights in prayer, John Welsh often seven to
eight hours a day. When the hour for devotion arrived, General
Gordon displayed a white handkerchief outside his tent, and as long
as it remained, no one was allowed to disturb him. General Stonewall
Jackson’s servant used to say that when his master got up several
times during the night to pray there was to be a battle next day.
Abraham Lincoln acknowledged that he had been driven to his knees
“by the overwhelming conviction that he had nowhere else to go.”
Gathering his pupils about him at the opening of his school, Agassiz
said, “It is becoming that we first of all bow in the presence of the
Infinite One.” Well might these exclaim with thousands of others:
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” (Eph. 3:14).

PRAYER MAKES A BOY BRAVE.

During the Civil War a dozen soldiers were playing cards one night
when one exclaimed: “What on earth was that?” Listening attentively
a moment, he heard a low, solemn voice, coming from the next tent,
occupied by several recruits, who had that day arrived in camp.
Accompanied by the others he approached the tent on tip-toe. “Boys,
he’s praying, or I’m a sinner!” he roared out. “Three cheers for the
parson!” shouted another man of the group as the prayer ended.
“You watch things for three weeks. I’ll show you how to take the
religion out of him,” said the first speaker, laughing. He was a large
burly fellow, prominent in mischief. The recruit was a slight, pale-
faced boy. During the next three weeks the latter was the butt of the
camp. Then several of the boys, conquered by the lad’s gentle
patience and uniform kindness, begged the others to stop annoying
him. “Oh, the little ranter is no better than the rest of us!” answered
the ringleader. “When we get under fire, you’ll see him run. These
pious folk don’t like the smell of gunpowder. I’ve no faith in their
religion.”
In a few weeks, the regiment broke camp, marched toward
Richmond, entered the Wilderness and engaged in that fearful battle.
The company to which the young recruit belonged had a desperate
struggle. The brigade was driven back, and when the line was formed
behind the breastworks they had built in the morning, he was
missing. When last seen, he was surrounded by enemies, fighting
desperately. At his side was the brave fellow who had made the poor
lad a constant object of ridicule. Both were given up as lost. Suddenly
the big man was seen tramping through the underbrush, bearing the
dead body of the boy. Reverently he laid the corpse down, saying as
he wiped the blood from his own face: “Boys, I couldn’t leave him
behind, he fought so. I thought he deserved a decent burial.”
During a lull in the battle the men dug a shallow grave and
tenderly laid him to rest. Then, as one was cutting the name and
regiment upon a board, the big man said, with a husky voice, “I guess
you’d better put the words ‘Praying soldier’ in somewhere. He
deserves the title, and maybe it’ll console him for our abuse.”
There was not a dry eye among those rough men as they stuck the
rudely carved board at the head of the grave. “Well,” said one, “he
was a praying Christian soldier if ever there was one! And,” turning
to the ringleader, “he didn’t run, did he, when he smelt gunpowder?”
“Run!” answered the big man, his voice tender with emotion. “Why,
he didn’t budge an inch! But what’s that to standing for weeks our
fire like a man, and never sending a word back! He just stood by his
flag and let us pepper him, he did; and boys, I have made up my
mind if prayer will make a man as bold, as loving, as forgiving, as
good, as it did that boy, I’m going to resort to it. It did him good and
it’ll do me good,” and as the other fellows bent their heads he prayed
for forgiveness and salvation, at the close of which the others said,
“Amen!”

HOW TO PRAY.
 Prayer is a blessed privilege, a vital necessity, an imperative duty,
but many there are who do not know how to pray. A mere repetition
of words or reading prayers is not prayer. Prayer may be a sigh, a
tear, a groan, a bungling utterance, “a true wish” as Phillips Brooks
used to say, “sent God-ward.” It is—
“the soul’s sincere desire
Uttered or unexpressed.
The motive of a hidden fire
That kindles in the breast.”

Prayer should always be accompanied by thanksgiving and

confession. David said, “I will confess my transgressions unto the
Lord,” (Psalm 32:5) and Paul exhorts, “Giving thanks always for all
things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” (Eph. 5:20). Prayer should be offered in faith. Faith is taking
one at his word and thus Christ said, “If ye ask anything in My name,
I will do it.” (John 14:14). To pray without faith, the Bible informs us,
is sin, and this is the reason why many of our petitions are not
answered. They are like those blossoms which fall blasted to the
earth. They had a certain beauty and fragrance, but for want of some
conformity to the law of growth, they never developed into fruit.
They are, as Mrs. Stowe says, “drowsy mutterings of unawakened
souls, talking in their sleep.” But real prayer is always answered.
There may be delays as in Daniel’s petition, or tests to strengthen
faith, as when Jesus said to Jairus, “Fear not, only believe,” (Luke
8:50) for what Christ has promised, He will certainly perform.

WHEN AND WHERE TO PRAY.

Prayer should be our vital breath. As with Paul, it should be

“without ceasing,” (Thess. 5:17) our inward desire continually going
up to God. It should be the first exercise of the morning and the last
in the evening. “It is the first hour of the morning,” says a Chinese
proverb, “that gives color to all the others that follow.” Louis XIV.
was awakened every morning with the words: “Arise, Monsieur, you
have great things to do to-day.” But how could they be done properly
without God’s blessing, and how could God’s blessing be secured
without asking? When Arthur P. Stanley the first night went to the
dormitory at Eton School where he with others had to sleep, he knelt
down to say his evening prayers. Instantly a shower of pillows and
shoes flew about him. He prayed on. “Stanley,” said one of the boys
next day, “I ought to have done as you did. I haven’t said my prayers
at night because I was afraid of the ridicule of the boys.” It was not
long before a score of them followed his example. President Garfield
when a boy undertook with a number of students from Williams
College to climb Mount Greylock. Their plan was to spend the night
on the mount. Seated around the campfire they sang college songs
and told stories all the evening. At bedtime Garfield took a
Testament from his pocket and said: “Boys, it is my custom to read a
chapter in the Bible and have prayer before going to bed. Shall we
have it all together?” and though it seemed rather hard to do,
Garfield did it and all were blessed for it.
Two places are mentioned in the Scriptures where a boy should
pray. Those places are the Christian’s arsenal. One is the secret
chamber where communion is sweet because undisturbed, the other
is the church, where in unity believers call upon God. To the devout
boy both are the “Holy of Holies” where God delights to meet him at
the “Mercy Seat.” Blessed is the place of public prayer! Never neglect
it. But the place of secret prayer is still more blessed. Cyprian would
resort to a shady arbor where “no profane listener may hinder my
musings, and no domestic clamor drown them.” Robert Murray
McCheyne declared, “It is my noblest and most fruitful
employment.” Henry Martyn mourned at the close of his saintly life,
that he had devoted “too much time to public works and too little to
private communion with God.” God said, “In quietness and in
confidence shall be your strength.” (Isa. 30:15).
O, the sweetness of one hour at the feet of Jesus. It changes
dispositions, purifies character, overcomes obstacles, imparts
strength to resist temptations, yes, it makes life worth living.
“We kneel, and all around us seems to lower;
We rise, and all, the distant and the near,
Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear;
We kneel, how WEAK! we rise, how full of POWER!”

WHAT PRAYER WILL DO.

 More things are wrought by prayer than anything else. It opens
heaven’s door, commands God’s ears to hear and hand to bestow,
makes darkened clouds withdraw, climbs—
“the ladder Jacob saw,
Gives exercise to faith and love;
Brings every blessing from above.”

Prayer has brought rain a thousand times since Elijah prayed,

softened kings’ hearts since Nehemiah won the sympathy of
Artaxerxes, shut lions’ mouths since Daniel was cast into their den,
given victory to armies since Amalek was discomfited, liberated
captives since Peter was delivered from prison, abated storms since
Christ said to wind and wave: “Peace! be still,” (Mark 4:39) arrested
hundreds of prodigals since Monica prayed for her wicked son
Augustine, restored health, supplied food, transformed lives and
revolutionized nations.
Prayer is the means that aids to keep in subjection the sinful
tendencies of human nature and though living in the world keeps us
separated from it. It is the means to aid us in winning souls for Jesus.
John Wesley was once riding along when he saw a man kneeling by
the wayside breaking stones. “Ah,” cried he, “I wish I could break the
hearts of some who hear me as easily as you are breaking those
stones.” The man looked up and said, “Did you ever try to break
them on your knees?” Pleading with God should always precede
pleading with souls to come to God, and it is a question whether
anyone has ever come to God who was not earnestly prayed for by
some one.
Prayer will also make a death-bed glorious. “Yea,” saith the
Psalmist, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff they
comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4). A boy was dying at midnight. He had just
awakened from sleep. “Is it near morning?” he asked his father. “It
soon will be,” replied the parent. “Do you think I will get well?” “I
hope so,” sobbed the father. There was a long silence, then the lad
moved restlessly on the pillow and said, “Hold me up, father, I want
to say my prayers.” Then, clasping his hands together, he repeated:
“Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy
kingdom come. Thy kingdom come. I can’t remember, father! I can’t
remember!” A short time after the morning light stole into the room.
“Forever and forever,” uttered the boy and he fell asleep in death.
O, my boy, cultivate this glorious habit of praying. To be intimately
acquainted with God cheers, inspires, ennobles. An old man lay
dying. His sons stood around his bed to receive his parting counsel,
and his last blessing. He had fought the battle of life successfully;
and, so far as this world was concerned, had come out crowned with
honors. He had been a pillar in the church; his seat had never been
vacant, his hand always freely opened to every call. For months he
had been laid aside by a lingering and painful illness. “Boys,” he said,
“God has been good to me. He has given me many friends, good
children, a loving wife, and abundant means; but what I thank Him
for now most of all is this long and painful illness. Without it my life
would have been a failure; I should have gone hence without
knowing as I should the only One worth knowing. Boys, whatever
you do or whatever you leave undone, whether you make another
cent of money or not, take time to get acquainted with God.” That’s
it. So acquainted with Him that with simple words you can breathe
your heart’s desire. So acquainted as to talk with Him the first thing
in the morning and the last in the evening. So acquainted as to seek
His favor in everything and to praise Him for anything.
“Implore His aid, in His decisions rest,
Secure, what’er He gives, He gives the best.”